大象传媒

I was born in a small terraced house on the banks of the Regent's Canal, near King's Cross station, a prime target for German bombs. Being an infant I was first evacuated with my mother to Swindon and then, as the bombing increased there, to South Wales and the story I want to tell is of a a school teacher called Nancy Millward, who changed my life.
Many evacuees were well cared for. Some were not.
Miss Millward took my mother and I in when I was just under three years old. She was a spinster lady who lived alone in a house in a village called Gwylod-y-Garth.
Because my mother had only one child she was expected to do her bit for the war effort and, being so young I have no recall of what she did, but know she had to leave me alone daily.
Miss Millward then took me to her school. By the time I was three she had taught me to read and write and to speak some Welsh.
She was one of many unrecognised heroines of WWII who gave the greatest care to 'refugees' like my mother and myself.
My father, who had not been called up but was drafted into the aircraft industry because of his skills. I think, as a pattern maker, was eventually given a requisitioned house and my family was reunited.
I have never forgotten this wonderful lady to whom I probably owe every success I've had in life.
This is not a dramatic story but it needs to be told because there were many who gave true advantages in life to evacuees, but we seldom hear of them, only of those who used and abused children like myself.
And there were very many who did that. Back with my family, reunited in Lancashire, I saw it for for myself. I could never forget Georgie Egan who arrived in our community plastered in purple iodine, head shaved, and with a label stating 'de-loused'. I was aware of that because my teacher displayed him to our infant classroom, label still tied to his clothing.
WWII gave people the opportunity to show their true colours. Many showed true generosity, others did not.
This was not a 'golden' era when the British showed their true spirit, it was a time when, like any other, some were exploited, but some were fortunate. My war gave me advantages I would not have had otherwise. For only too many other children it was a time of depravation, as war always is.
While I will always respect the lives given to protect our country from invasion and domination, I will always have this nagging doubt about how much we cared for the families who suffered.

Pat Morris

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.